Hold Off...It is not Spring!

  Even though the temperature was a brisk thirty degrees this morning, I decided it was a good idea to head outside and do a bit of yard work. The brightness of the sunshine fooled my feeble brain into thinking it was springtime.  I knew different once the screen door slammed behind me.  Geez, it was cold!  The chill in the air did not deter me from my set plan.  The greenhouse was in need of a bit of straightening so I figured that was a good place to start.  At least there, it is warm!  The plants are doing well but somehow the place was a mess!  We had used the greenhouse as part of the clue hunt this past October.  In the process of taking down decorations, I missed a few so my greenhouse still resembled a bayou shack!  Oh well, I figured it does not really matter.  It is on a bayou after all! With that I started my "spring-cleaning"!  Wait...the weather says it is NOT spring, yet!

  It was while I was tinkering around in the greenhouse that I heard a familiar sound.  The fluttering of tiny wings made me look up to come eye to eye with the small Carolina Wren that nests in the place.  Last year, she chose the old watering can as a good, solid home in which to raise her brood.  Her aim was to reuse the old nesting spot, I suppose, so my intrusion was not welcome.  I reassured her that I meant no harm to her so we came to an agreement that she could have the back corner. I would piddle around in the plants near the front door.  Then....another familiar sound.  Oh, geez!  It is NOT spring, yet!

  A pair of Mourning Doves were doing their usual courtship in the grape arbor just outside the back door of the greenhouse.  One bird was on the arbor and the other was in the tall oak tree next to it.  Their amorous cooing could be heard loud and clear through the many windows around me.  Birds...it is NOT spring!

  The Mourning Doves will start making nests early in the year and continue through spring.  (They are not the best homebuilders as their nests often fall apart well before the baby birds fledge.)  Finally, the female will chose her nest and lay a pair of eggs.  After the eggs hatch, both the mother and father bird will feed them.  Both birds form "pigeon milk" in their crops.  This starts to be produced two days before the baby birds hatch.  It is regurgitated to feed the little ones until they can fend for themselves.  Pigeon Milk looks a lot like cottage cheese and is high in protein and fat.  It helps the little ones grow fast without the parent birds having to search for food constantly.   The only other birds besides doves and pigeons that have this ability are Flamingos and Emperor Penguins.  Still, it might be wise for the birds to hold off just a little bit.  We will still have a bit more cold weather and those baby birds might not like it!  After all....it is NOT spring....yet!